Matthew 22:15-22
Lectionary 29 ~ 20th Sunday after Pentecost
They weren’t even friends! The Pharisees and the Herodians couldn’t even agree on paying taxes! The Pharisees wanted to maintain separation from the Roman government, while the Herodians sought to collaborate with them. It is said that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” So the Pharisees and the Herodians came together to concoct a plan to discredit Jesus.
Showing Jesus a coin, they asked, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” Looking at the coin used to pay the taxes, Jesus asked, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” Of course, it was the emperor’s. “Give the emperor things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” Jesus instructed. Jesus knew their hearts. He knew that there was malice in their question. Their question was legalistic, just like their hearts.
God’s heart isn’t like that. When Jesus said to give to God the things that are God’s, what the Pharisees and the Herodians did not realize is that everything is God’s. All that we have is because God is generous. Scripture tells us about God’s generosity and abundance right from the beginning. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Calculations place the number of stars at 70 thousand million, million, million. As many as this number of stars are the number of H2O molecule in just 10 drops of water. There are 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water in our world. Those oceans, lakes and rivers are bordered 7 quintillion 5 hundred quadrillion grains of sand. Scientists calculate the existence of 370,000 species of flowering plants, and 30 million different species of animals. The average cat has about 40 million hairs, 30 million of which will end up on your furniture. God’s generous abundance is revealed in the 5,140 trillion tons of air in our atmosphere.[1]
You may think some people are full of more hot air than others, but try this: Breathe in a bit and hold it. Breathe in some more, still holding your breath in. Breathe in again. Hold it. Now let your breath out. Feeling better now? Taking in the air God gives us is wonderful. But don’t you feel good when you give some back out into the world and stop holding it all?
We need to give away some of what we have been given. The in and out of breathing echoes the rhythm of life. Like breathing in and out, both receiving and are giving are necessary for wholeness. Our breathing, and our receiving and our giving are holy matters. (As a side note, for all of you who are wonderful at cooking meals for people in need, or building ramps to enable access, or any of the thousands of other things we do to help others, but won’t let others help you, know that you are denying someone else similar pleasure you get in giving and doing for others.)
Breathing in, and breathing out. Like the waves of the ocean scrambling for the shore, and then pulling back, again and again and again. Like the sun coming up in the morning, and setting every night. That’s part of God’s generosity today, and tomorrow, and the next. Every day, over and over, without end.
Sometimes I forget how generous God really is, but then I come to worship. I hear about the kingdom of heaven being like a treasure in a field, and like a pearl of great value. I hear the story of Jesus feeding thousands upon thousands of people with only five loaves of bread and two fish, and healing people regardless of age, or gender, or race, or economic situation, or political affiliation. I hear about Jesus extending God’s love and forgiveness to those whom society has condemned. He broke social, religious and political norms enacting God’s generous love, and he was killed for it.
From the cross, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them.” When we come to the Lord’s table, where Jesus is present in, under and through the bread and the wine, God’s love and forgiveness become a part of us. We are filled, like breathing in again and again. Breathe in so deeply that the abundance of God’s love and forgiveness poured out in Jesus pours out of us.
We are here in this community to hear, and see and taste and touch God’s love because of those who came before us and those among us. Our community here has been built through generosity and gratitude. From the bricks in these walls to the to the finely tuned organ rejoicing through Karen’s gifts, it is through our gifts of ministry and money that we reflect God’s generosity. Our calendars and our checkbooks bear witness to our gratitude for the gifts God has given us.
Through your generosity, we are able to respond to God’s call, and become part of God’s on-going story. With grace and abundance, we can shower those who will live in houses built through Habitat for Humanity. We provide hot meals to those with no permanent home, help with education costs for young people in Tanzania, and buy a tank of gas for a single mom whose work hours have been slashed in half. We are able to provide space for families of the mentally ill and to those suffering from addiction and to their families so that they can learn and support one another through challenging times. These ministries, and more, require working heat, and roof that doesn’t leak, clean restrooms and someone to keep track of who is where and when. We have come together to learn about our relationship with brothers and sisters in the Catholic faith. It takes computers and paper and people to make that happen.
Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for breathing in God’s love so deeply that when you let it out God’s love spreads among us here, and flows out in our community, and even around the world.
Today is Stewardship Sunday. Take a deep breath, and prayerfully consider how you will respond from your heart to God’s generosity in this coming year. As we read this morning in St. Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
~Pastor Cheryl Ann Griffin
[1] http://www.sciencealert.com/how-much-water-and-air-sustains-the-earth